Trying to relax (open)

[carson hale]

The air whizzed past her as she flew at unfathomable speeds. The wind was tangling her already messy hair and wrinkling her once pristine uniform but she didn't care. All that mattered now was flight. Her heart was in every twist and turn she made but her mind was elsewhere. The stars winked happily in the midnight sky, a complete contradiction to how she was feeling. The left side of her face altered between aching and stinging. This was the first time she had gotten two detentions in less than an hour.

She could see why she got the first detention. Sneaking into the prefect's bathroom while not being a prefect yourself- not the smartest idea she had ever had. Carson could also see some reason for her second detention. Getting into a fist fight in front of a teacher was not wise. Even if the teacher had always been lenient with her. Now her reputation as a good girl was probably destroyed. It hadn't been her fault, it was how she was raised- fists first words later. Normally she was able to resist the urge to punch whoever angered her but today was different. When that boy had insulted her family she had tried to turn away, really she had. But then he had said it, the words that struck her heart and tore it to shreds. How does it feel knowing that you killed your own brother?

Calm was but a fleeting memory as she had quickly turned and punched the boy in the face. He had recoiled at first but then struck out with a blow of his own. It caught her in the cheek. She raised her hand to feel the sore flesh, the cool wind making it sting more than it should. Of course, it hadn't been until she had thrown another punch that the professor had walked in. She had taken the verbal berating without a word then left before class started. Ravenclaw tower had been her first stop to drop off her bag and grab her broom.

Ever since she had been flying around trying to find peace in flying. Slowly it was working. Her frenzied zigzags were now elegant swoops and twirls. Quidditch had always managed to calm her down. Vaguely she wondered if anyone else was up this late. She had to fight back a smile, her split lip protesting when she failed.Time had become lost to her as she continued to fly. For now it was just her and the stars. But not for long.

[robin]

His Inferno 1110 was slung over his shoulder, bobbing in time with the long strides he took across the Hogwart's lawns. His destination? The quidditch pitch. Judging from the stars it was nearly midnight, the crescent moon partially lit up the path ahead. The stands in the stadium were eerily dark and had he not known Hogwarts was safe, he would have been scared. The grass muffled his steps as he walked onto the pitch noticing for the first time someone flying. The person looked like they were trying to escape, they were flying so fast. His eyes stayed with the figure trying to discern who it was and whether or not he should go back to his dorm.

A set of sky blue eyes locked onto the person, barely making out the whipping blonde curls that flew behind. He only knew one person with hair like that. It must be Carson. he thought. Considering the fact that they had been friends for years, Matt felt it was his job to see what was wrong. Straddling his broom, Matt pushed off the ground gliding up until he was even with Carson's height. She was going pretty fast, but he was sure his broom could catch up. He lent forward urging to broom onward. The Inferno shot forward toward where Matt figured would be the best place to intercept Carson. While she closely skimmed the edges of the stadium, Matt cut across the center.

"Carson!" Matt yelled when he was but a few feet behind her. "Carson, slow down!" He reached his right hand out to try and grab the handle of her broom. His fingers just brushed the handle, nearly grasping it. He hoped she would come out of her daze soon enough to realize that he was trying to get her attention.

[angel]

Raelee had decided that she would learn how to fly today. Just like that. However, since she was only an ickle first year, she wouldn't be allowed to fly without supervision. Well, supervision could go die in her opinion. Grabbing a few pieces of toast from the kitchen, she skipped out of the castle into the middle of the night.

After all, she was a gryffindor, wasn't she? Brave and loyal? Well, brave, yes, and loyal to herself maybe. Stopping by the broom shed, she grabbed one of the old school brooms to use. She didn't have a broom of her own, nor did her parents have the money to buy her one. In her opinion though, one of the school brooms would be good enough for her.

Now, on the quidditch field, Raelee wasn't sure what to do. Was she suppose to grip the broom like this? Trying it, she kicked off the ground like she had seen many quiddith players do. However, she wasn't even five feet of the ground when she slipped right off the broom.

Trying it once again,she slipped right off the broom again. Trying another grip didn't help either, and moment later, she was on the ground again, on her butt this time. Frustrated now, she kept trying until she finally had enough. "Stupid broom!" she shouted, kicking the broom. "Who wants to learn how to fly anyways?"

[potterholic22]

OOC: Raelee, just so you know, it's around midnight in this thread, not early morning. :]
-----------------

"Everyone should learn how t-t-to fly!" Ethan stuttered as he overheard the petite voice of a small girl, perhaps in first or second year. She must be new, he figured, since she was having such a hard time on a broom! Most people learned their place in the sky in their first month of school during flying lessons.

Wasn't it a little past her bedtime?

Ethan couldn't very well talk(no pun intended); it was a school night and it was late. Not to mention that he was impossible to wake up in the mornings even on a full eight hours of sleep! He was restless tonight, though. Ever since the school year had started, Ethan had not used his new broom. He'd been itching to do so, and on this night, he finally said 'bugger off' to his schoolwork and summoned his broom instead.

It was time to fly.

Now that he saw the struggling first year, though, the generous part of the Hufflepuff kicked in. Once he'd gotten her attention with his reply, he walked over, friendly smile hanging crookedly in place. Ethan slung his broom over his shoulders, resting his forearms on either side, as he looked down at little Raelee, the girl he did not yet know.

"Need help?" He asked, grinning. Of course she did. Just then, however, he heard a commotion up in the sky and for the first time since he'd been out here, he noticed two people flying above. They were barely visible in the inky blackness that was the night sky, but the shouting that emanated from a masculine voice alerted Ethan that they were indeed there.

'I wonder what's going on up there,' Ethan pondered, angling his broom-clad shoulders to the sky to get a better look. After a moment of squinting and feeling nosy, he directed his attention back to the young Gryffindor below.

"I'm Ethan, by the way." He said, nodding to her rather than extending his hand to shake. Shaking hands felt too formal. "Wh-what brings you out here this late?"

[carson hale]

She hadn't even realized there were other people in the stadium until a masculine hand reached for her broom. The sudden appearance startled her, but her course kept true. Looking over she saw the concerned face of her long time best friend Matt Grayson. It figured that he would approach her even though she was clearly flying faster than average. He had always been there for her, it didn't surprise her that he was here now.

"You're right." She nodded to him, her voice barely audible over the wind hurling past them. "You're right I need to slow down." Cari's speed decreased until they were floating side by side. Using her arms she pushed herself until she was sitting up from the close lean she had over her broom. Her eyes were red and watering from flying so fast that she had to use her hand to wipe away the water that trailed from her eyes. She winced when her fingers brushed over the blackish blue mark on her cheek. "I'm sorry. I guess I was so off in my own little world that I didn't realize you were here." Turning her burning blue eyes to him, she took in his wind swept appearance.

"What are you doing out here anyways?" Cari asked, her hand itching to brush through his hair. As always her stomach got butterflies when she saw Matt. Sometimes she wondered if he felt them too. She shook off the thought as soon as it came, she would never jeopardize their friendship like that. No matter how strong her feelings were. Tearing her eyes off of him before she did something impulsive, Cari looked down to the ground where two people were standing. From where she was in the sky, she could only make out dark figures. Were these two friends or foes?

"Looks like we have an audience." She pointed them out to Matt.

[robin]

His heart rate finally came down when Carson seemed to realize he was there. As she began to slow, so did he. A sigh he didn't know he had been holding escaped when they were floating side by side at a stand still. He tried to meet her eyes but for a moment it wasn't possible. When she looked at him he could tell something was off about her face. The crescent moon's light wasn't enough to illuminate her face so he pulled out his trusty wand. "Lumos." He spoke, the tip of his wand igniting with a flash. The light fell onto her face, chasing away the shadows. What he saw both shocked and angered him.

Reaching out a careful hand he gently brushed his fingers across the bruise. He traced the black blue discoloration from just below her eye to the bottom of her chin. When there was no more bruise to feel, he ran his index finger across her split lip. "Princess, what happened?" Maybe if he used the nickname he had given her years ago it would help her to gain the confidence to confide in him. He wouldn't lie, together they had been through thick and thin. Obviously, this was one of those thick patches. It hurt him to see her flinch away from his hand and it angered him that someone could do this to her. She was his to protect. She was his.

From the looks of her, Cari was fighting the urge to do something. Probably wanting to play with his hair. For some odd reason it always fascinated her when his hair was in its freshly washed un-gelled state. Normally he would act like it bugged him that she would tousle his hair (even though he secretly loved it), but if it would bring back some of that spark, he would let her. "Go on. I know you want to play with it." He smirked leaning his head in her direction.

"Looks like we have an audience."

His eyes followed the line of her hand. Down below he saw two figures on the ground. One of them looked familiar. "I think I know one of them." Matt squinted his eyes trying to see better. "But they can wait a minute. Are you ok?" Those heart-breaker blue eyes of his returned to her marred face with a look of protective fury.

[angel]

"Who says?" Raelee asked furiously as she gave her broom stick another kick, just for good measure. Looking up at the other boy who had approached her, she asked "Why do you care anyways." Looking back at the broom doubtfully though, she remembered her yearning to play on the quidditch team. Should she take up the older boy's offer? She didn't see why not. "I guess so..." she said, looking up at the other boy. Realizing that she hadn't introduced herself yet, Raelee said "Oh, my name is Raelee.".

[/size]

[potterholic22]

Ethan chuckled with amusement as the young girl was conflicted upon whether or not she wanted his help with a broom. Her anger was cute, since she was such a small little thing. Perhaps she'd grow some intimidation in a few years' time. "N-nice to meet you R-r-r-raelee." he said with a smidge of trouble. W's and R's were hard for him sometimes.

"Well since I'll take that as an enthusiastic yes," Ethan teased, swinging his broom from off his shoulders. "You can start by trying to mount. Just grip it tightly, l-like this," he showed her as he himself swung one leg over the side of the long-end of his broom. "And keep your feet steady and flat on the ground. Th-th-then..." He pushed up very lightly, rising a few inches from the ground.

"D-don't push up very hard until you get the hang of it..and it's all in h-how you hold the b-broom. Keep it parallel w-w-with the ground."

Smiling crookedly, he nodded his head at Raelee, indicating that she try. For some reason, Ethan liked to help someone when he saw they needed it. It may be why he had been placed in the lowly house of Hufflepuff (or so everyone called it). He couldn't help it, she was so little! The blonde continued to hover and smile encouragingly. It wasn't a burden for him to be teaching this girl instead of flying free in the air right now. To be perfectly honest, he'd much rather have company in the sky anyway. There were two people already up there, but for him to rise up on his own would feel sufficiently awkward indeed; he would patiently wait for this girl to gain her bearings, and in turn he would gain confidence. Besides, he would feel awful to just leave her down here!

[carson hale]

His fingers on her face shocked her, her body reacting before her mind could. Cari flinched in pain, even though she knew she had nothing to fear from Matt. He was her best friend, her confidante! Never had he ever hurt her intentionally, Quidditch pitch not included but as Beaters it was their jobs to aim for each other. She closed her eyes reveling in this one moment with him. Whether she was trembling from the cold or his touch, she couldn't tell.

His voice broke her from her reverie and she couldn't help but softly smile, she always had loved it when he would call her Princess. "You mean you haven't heard?" She raised a skeptical eyebrow in his direction. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, she began to explain, "I got into a fight. Some Slytherin thought it would be fun to insult my family and when that didn't work he told me I killed my brother." Cari's eyes looked down to the pair below. "He knew that would get to me. I don't know how he knew." She mumbled shaking her head back and forth.

Her head shot up in shock when Matt gave her permission to play with his hair, he always acted like he hated it! Well, not being one to turn down an opportunity like this, she moved her hand to brush through his short black hair. It was rare that she got to see him without a bottle of gel spiking his hair into what she liked to call a crow-hawk. Giving the locks one last tousle, she pulled her hand back to cross her arms over her chest. The breeze was still going strong blowing a cold humid air over the airborne pair. Carson let her eyes roam the sky, searching amid the stars for answers she would probably never find. Internally, she was finally finding peace after the confrontation that afternoon. It was hard to explain, just moments before she had been filled with an unfathomable fury that even her music could not tame. Had she been at home she would have danced until her feet grew numb and standing was no longer a possibility let alone an option.

But here. Here at Hogwarts- she couldn't listen to her muggle record player (did they have cd's in 1975?) and while she liked it, classical music would not calm her fury. She was lucky. In Matt she had found serenity and peace. Whenever she was mad, he would come around, speak a few words and it was as if her anger had never existed in the first place. Cari didn't know what she had ever done to deserve a friend as wonderful as Matt. In her mind she didn't deserve him, that's why she was reluctant to take a chance on her emotions and go after him. Even if it hurt her, she would see him happy. He deserved happiness.

"Thanks Matt." Cari smiled a genuine smile. No matter what, he could always cheer her up. "I'll be fine. What do you say we head down and see who our company is?" Her head tilted to the side as it usually did when she was asking a question, her blue eyes twinkling with the stars.

[robin]

Matt watched as Carson shivered. He felt really bad and wished there was something he could do to warm her up. Unfortunately, he had forgotten his jacket inside and all he was wearing was a thin white t-shirt and jeans. Just watching her tremble made him cold. Instead of wrapping his arms around himself, he sat up straight, his hands going into his pockets.

"You? You got into a fight?" It was his turn to raise a skeptical eyebrow. Of all the things in the world, the last thing he ever thought Cari would do was get into a fight. And from the sound of it, this fight was with a boy. 'Who ever this boy was he had better watch out,' Matt thought as Cari dug her hands into his hair. He loved the way the roots of his hair would tingle when she flipped her fingers a certain way. When she moved to pull her hand back, Matt caught a glimpse of her knuckles. There were scrapes and bruise just brushing the raised finger joints. Maybe he wouldn't have to chase this boy down after all, from the looks of her knuckles, Cari had done some damage.

"You're a pure-blood. Chances are your brother's obituary was in a paper or something. Maybe he knew some one who attended the funeral." He offered up explanations as to why the boy would have known about her brother. Cari looked so helplessly lost in that moment, like the world had just been pulled from under her.

He followed her gaze to the stars but couldn't focus on them. So instead of watching the sky, he watched her eyes as they searched the heavens for an answer to all of her problems. It was rare that she was so distracted so Matt took the time to really look at her. Blonde curls were tangled together, she would have a hard time brushing her hair out. The pale porcelain of her skin glowed in the faint moonlight making her emit a sort of ethereal glow. She really was pretty for a girl her age. At times it had seemed that she had a crush on him, and he would be happy if she did. As it was, he was overprotective of her and disliked any single male being around her no matter what the reason. Jealous? Yeah, he was a little bit jealous but who wouldn't be? She had trusted him and confided in him when she didn't have to. And not only were they the best of friends, they depended on each other for everything. At parties they would always arrive and leave together in case inebriation prohibited either one of them from a safe return to their dorms.

"Thanks Matt."

He returned her smile with ten times the force. No matter how many times he told her she didn't have to thank him, she always did. "Anytime, Princess." He pulled her into a one armed hug. Any excuse to get close to her, he used. This was definitely one of those excuses. "We should go see who is down there. They probably think we are some snobs who are too good to set foot on the ground." he chuckled, releasing her (even though he didn't want to).

Gently, he tapped her broom with his foot to get a little space in between them before his lips got a wild hair to kiss her. Floating about a foot away from her, his eyes once more took on the mischievous smirk. "Wanna race down there?"

[carson hale]

Cari watched as Matt tried to hide the fact that he was cold. He always tried to be the tough guy, but she knew his tells. She searched her mind but could not remember the charm to warm them up. Sometimes being the dumb Ravenclaw really sucked. It was funny watching Matt as he registered the fact that she had gotten into a fight. Alot of people had this notion that she was a good girly girl and even though Matt had been close to her longer than everyone else here at Hogwarts, he was the one who still had the most trouble accepting her rough side. She would call it her dark side but in these days, saying you had a dark side was like admitting to serving Voldemort.

When she saw Matt looking down at her hand, she followed his gaze to the scrapes that ran across her knuckles. She hadn't even noticed they were there until he had. It was funny how anger and hurt could push away pain. But now that she was aware of their existence, the scrapes stung.

That was when he hugged her. Cari loved hugs, period. It wasn't uncommon to see her hug her friends whenever she got the chance. What could she say? Hugs were her weakness. So when Matt hugged her, she reveled in it. Usually he complained about her always hugging him claiming it hurt his macho factor. Of course, this didn't stop Cari. It only made her want to hug him more. Even more rare was the occasion when Matt would initiate the hug. This told her that he had been seriously worried about her.

"A race?" She raised her eyebrow when he pulled away. Matt had a great broom, an Inferno 1110 to be exact. And, while it was a good broom, it was just about equal if not more powerful than Cari's. If she were to win, she would have to play dirty. "I don't-" She started, acting hesitant. This was all part of the illusion. "GO!" Her voice shouted, taking off hoping that Matt hadn't caught on to her trick. The pair on the ground was in sight, she bent closer to the handle willing the broom to go faster. She pulled her broom to a stop a few feet short of the two who she now saw were Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students.

"Hi!" She smiled.

[potterholic22]

Ethan hovered inches above the ground, displaying the ideal way to stay in place on your broom as Raelee gave it a try. He sensed a third party, however, mainly by the 'whoosh'ing sound that drew ever nearer. He turned his head to see the two silhouettes he'd noticed a few minutes ago coming into focus at a very fast rate indeed. He backed up a little on his broom just as a blonde girl stopped in front of him. She smiled as she greeted him, letting Ethan know that she wasn't going to start any problems (not that he'd suspected that).

He smiled back at her. "H-hello there," He replied with amusement as her companion, whom he recognized as being a fellow Hufflepuff, arrived after her. It was refreshing to meet some fellow fliers!

He had not noticed at first, but upon getting a better look at Carson's face, his eyes grew wide and his smile slackened into a frown. Someone had been hitting on this girl, and it didn't look as if it had been a simple cat-fight.

"Are you oka-okay?" He asked, forgetting to ask for her name. That looked to be a pretty nasty bruise. However, a second later he felt awfully rude for greeting her that way. It was just a natural reaction for Ethan to feel concerned. He looked to her male companion, who he didn't suspect of being her attacker. He looked friendly, and so did she; this was not a completely fresh abrasion.

[robin]

Matt wanted to slap his head in frustration. He couldn't believe that he had fallen for that trick again!!! What was worse was that Cari was the worst liar and as a result the worst bluffer that he knew. It wasn't surprising though. Sometimes he would just get so wrapped up in her sparkling blue eyes that she could trick him and he would be none the wiser. Heck, it wouldn't surprise him if one day she managed to trick him out of his broom (he knows that she's been eying it for quite sometime). But something told him that Cari would never do that. She may be tricky but she was fair... To him at least.

He watched as her tangled curls flapped in the wind as she sped down toward the ground. Heaving a sigh, he flew after her. Not that he would ever say this to her face but Cari was pretty fast. He had taught her well. She picked up speed and as a natural instinct Matt did the same. He bent close to his broom bettering his aerodynamics. Maybe the fact that he weighed more than Cari would help to speed up his broom and bring him closer to her. He was partially right. His added weight made the descent speed up but as his body was bigger than Cari's it nearly neutralized his speed.

Matt came closer and closer to the blonde ahead of him but she made it to the pair hovering just off the ground first. He watched as she nearly startled the seventh year Hufflepuff, greeting him energetically. Sometimes he wondered if Cari was on a constant sugar high. People should not be that cheerful.

Deciding to give her a little scare as revenge for that stunt she pulled, Matt sped up even more. Just as he was even with her level, Matt kicked his broom sideways and bumped into Cari's side. He knew that she always hated it when she thought people were going to crash into he so when their legs collided with barely enough force to jolt her, he was laughing.

"Hey! What's up?" Matt smiled at the pair he and Cari had just joined.

[carson hale]

"I'm fine." Cari gave him a big smile to let him know that she was being genuine. "Thanks for your concern. I'm Carson Hale. But everyone calls me Cari!" Had she the chance she would have held out her hand for him to shake but the second she saw Matt flying toward her, she knew it was temporarily out of the question.

She saw that wicked glint in his eyes as he flew closer and closer, not letting up on his speed. Cari closed her eyes and waited for the impact. She HATED it when people would bump her in midair. It took all she had not to let out a sigh of relief when he bumped into her with just a little tap that barely nudged her. Her eyes took in his wind tousled hair and his rumpled shirt. A small smile crept onto her face and she hoped that Matt would let his guard sown and think she was going to let him off this one time. Oh how wrong he would be.

Waiting for just the right moment, she reached over and slugged Matt on the shoulder with just enough force to leave it stinging for a few minutes. "Don't you ever do that to me again!" She half shouted. Her anger having been spent, she reached over and gently rubbed where she had hit Matt, wrapping him in a hug. "I'm sorry, okay? Want me to kiss it better?" Cari bat her eyelashes and looked up at Matt with her wide doe like blue eyes.

"I'm sorry you had to see that!" She turned with a smile back to face the older Hufflepuff and the young Gryffindor, one of her arms still slung about Matt's shoulders. "So, do you and Matt know each other?" Cari asked motioning between the two.

[robin]

Matt watched Cari for a moment to gage her reaction to his little trick. He knew she hated it when people bumped int her in mid-air. He just didn't understand why it scared her. When she gave him a soft smile, he instantly relaxed and figured that he was forgiven. After all, she did cheat in the race. but he was wrong, the second he had relaxed, she hit him square in the shoulder. Pain shot through his arm. Who would have known that a girl could punch like that? His arm felt like it was on fire! He took her yells without protest. Maybe she wouldn't hit him again if he acted complacent.

When she had finished yelling, she reached over and began to rub his shoulder. Just having her touch his arm was pain but he didn't let that show. He actually liked her shoulder rubs. maybe he could guilt trip her out of one later. The pain began to subside and he began to enjoy the slow circles she was rubbing on his arm. Unexpectedly she pulled him into a hug and apologized. Sometimes he swore that girl was bipolar or something.

"Actually yes. Please kiss it better." He held out his arm and rolled up his sleeve to expose his muscular bicep.

"And yes, we kind of do know each other. We are both Hufflepuffs." Matt gave Cari a look that clearly said 'duh!'

"What's up Ethan?" He asked holding out his hand for the other boy to shake.